Analysing the Demand for Supply Chain Jobs through Job Advertisements

To stay in touch with reality, universities need to adapt their courses to

the needs of employers. We analyse 510 job advertisements in the area

of supply chain management in order to understand the skills that

employers are seeking from employees, the type of jobs that these will be

conducting, and the personal characteristics that are preferred by

employers. The information contained in the advertisements was captured

by means of 132 keywords. The resulting data set was analysed using

multivariate statistical tools: Ordinal Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster

analysis. It was found that every advertisement can be described by

means of six dimensions: managing versus planning; analysis versus

applicability; experience required; a focus on the firm’s internal processes

versus a focus on the firm’s external stakeholders; the level of expertise

required; and the way in which employers reward employees according to

the skills, duties and job type. Advertisements fell into two categories,

those aimed at experienced individuals who were enticed to change jobs,

and those aimed at graduates. Skills required from graduates included

analytical skills, and ability to solve problems. The consequences for

designing university courses in supply chain management are explored.